


A Dangerous Road

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-04-16
Packaged: 2018-03-23 05:43:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3756616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blair is driving down a dangerous road</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Dangerous Road

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Sentinel Thursday prompt 'accident'

The mountain road was an accident waiting to happen.

It was narrow, winding, steep, the edges were potholed, and there was nothing at all to stop a car that went off the road from sliding, rolling, bouncing... somersaulting an indeterminate distance down towards the valley floor far below.

Blair hated that road... but it was the only road that went from Naomi's favorite commune towards 'civilization'.

Blair shook his head as he braked for another bend, wondering - as he did every time Naomi persuaded him to take her there - what had possessed the group who started the commune to choose to live somewhere so dangerous to get to, especially since one of them had to make the trip to the nearest town every two to three weeks to stock up on food.

The people at some of the communes Naomi visited grew their own food, even sold some of it, in season, at local farmers' markets. This one was too high in the mountains for farming to be viable. They had an income of sorts from selling the craft work, weaving and baskets, they made, but had to buy in all their food. Every time he took Naomi to this commune he wondered how it ever managed to survive.

At least when Naomi left the place in a few weeks she would travel into town with whoever was buying food that day - but when she went to it, he had to take her. Although she could drive, she refused to buy a car, calling having one 'middle class ostentation' - although she had never tried to discourage Blair from buying a car, and had no problem with calling on Blair any time she wanted to be taken somewhere, even somewhere that had a bus service.

How had she ever found this particular commune? She had never said; when Blair asked, she brushed his query aside.

If pushed, he was prepared to admit that he found the uphill drive to the place less nerve-wracking than the downhill drive he was now taking to get away from it.

Not that he was likely to meet another vehicle - the road went nowhere except to the commune, and this wasn't a day when any of them took their fairly decrepit small bus into town - though it wasn't totally impossible. He might meet some idiot wanting to see where the road went, stubborn enough not to change his mind at the first possible opportunity when he saw how bad the road was; or, just possibly, someone like Naomi who was visiting the commune and who had his - or her - own transport, or was being taken to the place by a friend.

He braked for another corner and crept round it at about 10 mph, very, very aware of the long drop on his right. At least this was the corner he considered the most dangerous on the whole road; safely round it, he relaxed infinitesimally. Not that he was tempted to drive any faster than the 20 mph he usually maintained when driving down this road.

If he were to drive over the edge he would probably be killed. But if he were to survive the fall... No way he could escape without serious, probably disabling, injury. If he were to break his neck he might survive, but the range of activities available to him would be severely restricted. No more expeditions to visit tribes still living more or less in the stone age. No more prowling with his friends looking for willing girls to seduce. No more independence. If he was unlucky, he could lie there, helpless, for days before the commune's next scheduled trip into town, when he might be found. If he was lucky, he would die before he suffered too much.

But he didn't want to die yet. There was too much he still wanted to do.

And so he drove on, slowly, carefully, until with a sigh of relief he joined the main road.

He sent mental well-wishes to the permanent residents of the commune. One day there would almost certainly be a serious accident on that steadily deteriorating mountain road - but with luck he (and Naomi) wouldn't be anywhere near when it happened.


End file.
